tyneside:
Not a waggon but it would have made for an interesting drive.
Tyneside
Thats a quality pic “tyneside”
Is that a Morris as i seem to remember it was also sold under another badge/make ?
I had an uncle when i was a kid who had the saloon version and from memory they were a pretty decent car.
I cant ever remember seeing an estate version but i reckon that looks very smart as an estate.Were they fairly common
as an estate or rare ■■
I “think” i read somewhere that a company was still building them in India until not that long ago.
1
0
BMC made these under a variety of badges. The Morris Oxford and the Austin Cambridge both came in saloon or estate versions (and to answer your question the estates were probably the most common we had then). The posher versions were the Wolseley 16/60, the Van den Plas with the 4-ltr RR engine and the Riley. Apart from the Van den Plas I think they all shared versions of the basic BMC ‘B’ engine - someone’ll put me right there. They were nice solid family cars for their time. We wouldn’t put up with the unreliability nowadays but then everything else was much less reliable then. I ran an Morris Oxford estate which I pulled a caravan with, a Wolseley 16/60 and an Austin Cambridge saloon which I bought cheaply one Spring and the clutch went; so as it had a new battery I drove it without a clutch for the rest of Summer before flogging it off cheap and buying another old banger.
As for the Indian version: you’re thinking of the older version (shaped like a giant Morris Minor). The tooling etc were all shipped out to India where they were made under the flag of Hindustani Ambassador. There were millions of them when I last went to India. They made Bedford TJs too. Robert
The 4 litre RR-engined VdP was not based on this car. That was based on the next model up that was only produced as an Austin Westminster. It had a 3 litre straight 6 engine.
The Austin and Morris versions were also available with a gutless 1.5 litre diesel for a while. It was intended primarily for the taxi market bit failed miserably.
Cheers ramone the thread is where it’s at because of the fantastic support of others with their pictures, info and chat in general, so a HUGE THANKS to all of you who keep it going.
Oily
windrush:
My first two cars were an Austin A60 saloon (7134 DP) and a Series Six Morris Oxford saloon (LJO 205G) which were purchased from the BMC dealership I worked for. The Vanden Plas with the rather poor built under licence Rolls engine (same as fitted to the Austin Champ) was a much larger vehicle similar to the six cylinder Austin Westminster/Wolsesley 6/110 etc. The estates were very common but available only in Austin and Morris form. Other similar vehicles were the Riley 4/72, MG Magnette (both fitted with twin SU carbs) and the Wolseley 16/60. Quite reliable, I had no issues with mine apart from when it wouldn’t start, then I just opened the boot and gave the SU electric fuel pump a knock to wake it up and all was well again!
The earlier Morris Oxford, sold in India as the Hindustan Ambassador, lasted for years. I know a local businessman who imported one and when asked about delivery replied that he would collect it from the docks and drive it up to Derbyshire. He only got part way up the M1 when the combination of cam and peg steering, cross ply tyres and a sidewind convinced him to abandon the idea and get it trailered the rest of the way!
Pete.
Hi windrush, the Champ and the Vanden Plas Princess R engines were different 4cyl and 6cyl(aluminium) I did quite a few loads of the VP Princess R from the Cowley factory to storage at Oakley Airfield 1964ish where they lingered a long time, many requiring re-furbish(tyres, batteries, wipers, trim fade etc.) before going to dealers.
Oily
tyneside:
Not a waggon but it would have made for an interesting drive.
Tyneside
Thats a quality pic “tyneside”
Is that a Morris as i seem to remember it was also sold under another badge/make ?
I had an uncle when i was a kid who had the saloon version and from memory they were a pretty decent car.
I cant ever remember seeing an estate version but i reckon that looks very smart as an estate.Were they fairly common
as an estate or rare ■■
I “think” i read somewhere that a company was still building them in India until not that long ago.
1
0
BMC made these under a variety of badges. The Morris Oxford and the Austin Cambridge both came in saloon or estate versions (and to answer your question the estates were probably the most common we had then). The posher versions were the Wolseley 16/60, the Van den Plas with the 4-ltr RR engine and the Riley. Apart from the Van den Plas I think they all shared versions of the basic BMC ‘B’ engine - someone’ll put me right there. They were nice solid family cars for their time. We wouldn’t put up with the unreliability nowadays but then everything else was much less reliable then. I ran an Morris Oxford estate which I pulled a caravan with, a Wolseley 16/60 and an Austin Cambridge saloon which I bought cheaply one Spring and the clutch went; so as it had a new battery I drove it without a clutch for the rest of Summer before flogging it off cheap and buying another old banger.
As for the Indian version: you’re thinking of the older version (shaped like a giant Morris Minor). The tooling etc were all shipped out to India where they were made under the flag of Hindustani Ambassador. There were millions of them when I last went to India. They made Bedford TJs too. Robert
The 4 litre RR-engined VdP was not based on this car. That was based on the next model up that was only produced as an Austin Westminster. It had a 3 litre straight 6 engine.
The Austin and Morris versions were also available with a gutless 1.5 litre diesel for a while. It was intended primarily for the taxi market bit failed miserably.
Yes, Windrush pointed this out in the post above yours . And of course you’re both right because I’d completely forgotten about the bigger version with the Westminster et al! Cheers, Robert
There was also a Wolseley version of the 6 cylinder Westminster. We sold all the BMC group models, car and commercial plus (before my time there) Nuffield tractors, except those badged as Austin as there were other dealerships in town selling those. I only ever worked on the commercials though. I forgot that the VP models were also six cylinder, they were not a very good engine though and I can see why RR didn’t use them. We had a few Oxfords with the 1.5 diesel and they were sluggish (as was the Commer PB, Bedford CA etc) but quite reliable and smooth running little engine also used in the J2/J4 and 250 JU commercials and there are still some marine versions in use nowadays. Back then the only other diesel cars (apart from black cabs) were Mercs and the Borgward so not a lot of competition really for private hire use.
Spardo:
Some serious experimentation allowed in Scandinavia, something Denby could only dream of.
And, to Boatchaser, all Euro trucks have night heaters independant of the engines, I haven’t idled a truck all night since 1970, and then I nearly got gassed when the wind changed and it sucked the exhaust in.
Not the same problem in North America, where they all have vertical exhausts, but hardly good for the environment. But it is not just to keep the driver warm is it? In the frozen north it is to stop the engine freezing, isn’t it?
I’ve let the engine running all night on a trip to the Ukraine David, was indeed to stop the engine ( more precisely the diesel and oil) from freezing (-30 at night), I’d turned of the engine the night before, did cost a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get it up running again the following day. We did put winter diesel in the tanks and we’d put some additive in the tanks too, but strangely enough, it was only the second hand bought Scania’s that had the problems the next day…
windrush:
My first two cars were an Austin A60 saloon (7134 DP) and a Series Six Morris Oxford saloon (LJO 205G) which were purchased from the BMC dealership I worked for. The Vanden Plas with the rather poor built under licence Rolls engine (same as fitted to the Austin Champ) was a much larger vehicle similar to the six cylinder Austin Westminster/Wolsesley 6/110 etc. The estates were very common but available only in Austin and Morris form. Other similar vehicles were the Riley 4/72, MG Magnette (both fitted with twin SU carbs) and the Wolseley 16/60. Quite reliable, I had no issues with mine apart from when it wouldn’t start, then I just opened the boot and gave the SU electric fuel pump a knock to wake it up and all was well again!
The earlier Morris Oxford, sold in India as the Hindustan Ambassador, lasted for years. I know a local businessman who imported one and when asked about delivery replied that he would collect it from the docks and drive it up to Derbyshire. He only got part way up the M1 when the combination of cam and peg steering, cross ply tyres and a sidewind convinced him to abandon the idea and get it trailered the rest of the way!
windrush:
There was also a Wolseley version of the 6 cylinder Westminster. We sold all the BMC group models, car and commercial plus (before my time there) Nuffield tractors, except those badged as Austin as there were other dealerships in town selling those. I only ever worked on the commercials though. I forgot that the VP models were also six cylinder, they were not a very good engine though and I can see why RR didn’t use them. We had a few Oxfords with the 1.5 diesel and they were sluggish (as was the Commer PB, Bedford CA etc) but quite reliable and smooth running little engine also used in the J2/J4 and 250 JU commercials and there are still some marine versions in use nowadays. Back then the only other diesel cars (apart from black cabs) were Mercs and the Borgward so not a lot of competition really for private hire use.
Pete.
I had quite forgotten about the Wolseley versions of the Westminster. I shouldn´t have as the Met police had loads that I used to be wary of…
Did you ever have any of the very few J4s with the little diesel mated to a Borg warner 35 auto box? They were very sluggish indeed…
oiltreader:
Re the John Wakely photo I have edited my post to read 1980 snap of Leyland tipper.
I had from new in 1967 an AEC Mercury Ergo with similar cab, dead man by he instrument binnacle. The brain is short circuiting a bit but if I remember rightly it was 5 speed, 5th giving an overdrive type feel, somebody more versed will put me right there. I never got involved in the serious mechanical maintenance. Did my wheel changing(punctures) carried a few basic tools for the likes of replacing fuel injector pipes(PerkinsR6) etc, greased the fixed turntable(not a 5th wheel type) a bit o wire brushing to exposed to the elements battery terminals, spare bulbs etc. etc. that was it.
Oily
The AEC Ergo’s that I drove in the second half of the 60’s early 70’s had an air assisted hand brake. It certainly put the brake on, but I always thought that because you had no idea (no feel) how hard you were putting it on, that you could maybe damage the hot drums. I might be wrong though.
I had a fifty something Riley Pathfinder.Twin SU’s, cable driven tacho and the gear lever between the seat and the door. It’s demise came when the top of number two piston separated from the skirt.
tyneside:
Not a waggon but it would have made for an interesting drive.
Tyneside
Thats a quality pic “tyneside”
Is that a Morris as i seem to remember it was also sold under another badge/make ?
I had an uncle when i was a kid who had the saloon version and from memory they were a pretty decent car.
I cant ever remember seeing an estate version but i reckon that looks very smart as an estate.Were they fairly common
as an estate or rare ■■
I “think” i read somewhere that a company was still building them in India until not that long ago.
1
0
BMC made these under a variety of badges. The Morris Oxford and the Austin Cambridge both came in saloon or estate versions (and to answer your question the estates were probably the most common we had then). The posher versions were the Wolseley 16/60, the Van den Plas with the 4-ltr RR engine and the Riley. Apart from the Van den Plas I think they all shared versions of the basic BMC ‘B’ engine - someone’ll put me right there. They were nice solid family cars for their time. We wouldn’t put up with the unreliability nowadays but then everything else was much less reliable then. I ran an Morris Oxford estate which I pulled a caravan with, a Wolseley 16/60 and an Austin Cambridge saloon which I bought cheaply one Spring and the clutch went; so as it had a new battery I drove it without a clutch for the rest of Summer before flogging it off cheap and buying another old banger.
As for the Indian version: you’re thinking of the older version (shaped like a giant Morris Minor). The tooling etc were all shipped out to India where they were made under the flag of Hindustani Ambassador. There were millions of them when I last went to India. They made Bedford TJs too. Robert
Thats the one Robert,The Austin Cambridge. . Its funny what you can and cant remember but dont i remember the estates
at all.
Spardo:
Some serious experimentation allowed in Scandinavia, something Denby could only dream of.
And, to Boatchaser, all Euro trucks have night heaters independant of the engines, I haven’t idled a truck all night since 1970, and then I nearly got gassed when the wind changed and it sucked the exhaust in.
Not the same problem in North America, where they all have vertical exhausts, but hardly good for the environment. But it is not just to keep the driver warm is it? In the frozen north it is to stop the engine freezing, isn’t it?
I’ve let the engine running all night on a trip to the Ukraine David, was indeed to stop the engine ( more precisely the diesel and oil) from freezing (-30 at night), I’d turned of the engine the night before, did cost a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get it up running again the following day. We did put winter diesel in the tanks and we’d put some additive in the tanks too, but strangely enough, it was only the second hand bought Scania’s that had the problems the next day…
Oh the joys of the little campfires under the diesel tanks and pipes on a frosty morning.
Spardo:
Some serious experimentation allowed in Scandinavia, something Denby could only dream of.
And, to Boatchaser, all Euro trucks have night heaters independant of the engines, I haven’t idled a truck all night since 1970, and then I nearly got gassed when the wind changed and it sucked the exhaust in.
Not the same problem in North America, where they all have vertical exhausts, but hardly good for the environment. But it is not just to keep the driver warm is it? In the frozen north it is to stop the engine freezing, isn’t it?
I’ve let the engine running all night on a trip to the Ukraine David, was indeed to stop the engine ( more precisely the diesel and oil) from freezing (-30 at night), I’d turned of the engine the night before, did cost a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get it up running again the following day. We did put winter diesel in the tanks and we’d put some additive in the tanks too, but strangely enough, it was only the second hand bought Scania’s that had the problems the next day…
Oh the joys of the little campfires under the diesel tanks and pipes on a frosty morning.
The H&S. police would have a fit now if anyone tried the tricks we used then!! regards Kev.
